This invention relates to apparatus for stacking and stapling sheets wherein a stapling device is arranged in a housing which laterally substantially surrounds the stacking area from above and below but does not intercept the path of sheets through the apparatus.
Apparatus for stacking and stapling sheets are suitable for use, for example, in connection with reproduction equipment where copies reproduced in the equipment are compiled in a stack and stapled before further transport to a downstream location. An example of such apparatus is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,735,978. Such apparatus has a single stapling device which is arranged at one side of the stack. It is often desirable that a sheet stack be stapled along one edge by two staples which are located adjacent to the ends of such edge. U.S. Pat. No. 4,516,714 shows plural stapling devices, with the housings of said stapling devices being movable and adjustable transversely in the direction in which the sheets are fed into the stacking area. However, such arrangement does not have an unobstructed feed path through the stacking area; that is, sheets introduced into the stacking area have to be moved out of the stacking area in a direction opposite to the feeding direction after they have been stapled. Moreover, each stapling device housing is movable by a drive of its own which is controllable by a complicated control unit in a timed relationship with a drive of the other housing.